Rail anchors



April 19, 1960 A. M. WELLS 2,933,258

RAIL ANCHORS Filed May 5, 1958 rfmemer .s

Unite RAIL ANCHORS Arthur M. Wells, Chicago, 111., assignor to Achulf Railway Supply Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of This inventionrelates g'en'erall'y'to rail anchors for restraining the tendency of rails to creep relative to the cross ties, and more particularly to anchors of the type disclosed in the Palmer Patent No. 2,139,847 and the Falls Patent No. 2,503,229.

The aforesaid patents disclose a rail anchor formed from a car of steel generally in the shape of a W, the upward extending ends of the anchor being notched to receive the side flanges of the rail and the center portion of the anchor having an upper center crest disposed beneath the bottom'of the rail.

In the Palmer patent, the center crest of the anchor is in contact with the bottom of the rail. In fact, the Palmer-anchoris' initially shaped so that the center crest projects upwardly above the line defined by the lower edges of the rail-receiving notches, hence application of this anchoris diflic'ult. Initially, the rail-receiving' notch at one end is hooked over one flange of the rail and the center crest is in contact with the bottom of the rail, while the other notch necessarily is disposed below the opposite-flange. The rail anchor is then attached by lifting said other end of the anchor until its notch is brought level with the other flange, but considerable force is required in so distorting the anchor.

In the Wells patent, the center crest of the anchor never engages the bottomofthe rail, hence it is more easily applied. The Wells anchor does have the disadvantage, however, of only two-point contact with the rail as-contrasted with .the three-point contact of the Palmer anchor, hence does not have as strong a grip on the rail.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rail anchor having the superior three-point gripping characteristics of the Palmer device, but which is more easily applied to the rail.

Briefly, this objective is achieved by forming a W- shaped anchor with rail-receiving notches in the upwardly projecting ends, the anchor being initially shaped so that contact of the crest with the bottom of the rail is achieved by an upward movement of the center crest occurring upon outward displacement of the notched ends. In other words, the ends of the anchor become displaced outwardly when attached to the rail base, and the present invention is predicated on the discovery that this outward displacement is suflicient to produce an upward thrust of the center crest, which, in turn, is sufficient to provide three-point contact without rendering the anchor diflicult to apply. As initially formed, the top of the center crest should be disposed at or preferably just below the line defined by the lower edges of the rail-receiving notches, which in turn becomes the line defined by the bottom surface of the rail. This clearance of the center crest in the free position should be approximately equal to the thrust or distance of upward movement of the center crest brought about by the outward displacement of the anchor ends in the applied position. It will be understood, however, that there may be some variation and compensation for manatent ufacturing tolerances. Also, the outward displacement and the initial clearance tend to be smaller with smaller rail sections or smaller anchors.

Other features of the invention will be in part apparent from and in part pointed out in. the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a sectional view of a rail showing the anchor of this invention applied thereto; and

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing only "the anchor in its unstressed condition, the applied or stressed position of parts being somewhat exaggerated and indicated by dotted lines.

Rail anchors of the type with which this invention is concerned are customarily forged from a length of bar stock generally in the shape of a W, as shown in the drawings, so as to have upwardly projecting end portions 1 formed with rail-gripping notches 3 and an upward center convolution or crest 5, the notches being of a width equal to thickness of rail margins, as shown. The lower convolutions or valleys 7 are disposed beneath the outer margins or flanges 9 of the rail base 11. When such an anchor is applied to the rail, it locks against longitudinal movement with respect to the rail and engages a cross tie, thereby preventing longitudinal movement of the rail over the rail bed. i

As mentioned previously, such an anchor is disclosed in the Palmer Patent 2,139,847 of December 13, 1938. The Palmer anchor is initially shaped so that in its unstressed or free condition prior to applicationto'the rail, the top of the center crest projects above'the bottom edges of th rail-receiving notches. n applying the Palmer anchor, it is inserted under the rail base and po sitioned so that the notch in one leg receives one margin of the rail, the notch in the other'legbeing initially disposed beneath the other margin ofthe rail "base and the center crest being in contact with the bottom surface 05 the rail. The second end of the mills then lifted by a special tool until the notch therein is level with the adjacent margin of the rail, whereupon the anchor end springs inwardly'tolock upon the rail. The initial two-point contact of the anchor with the other margin-and bottom of the rail means that considerable force is necessary in lifting the other end of the anchor into locking engagement with the rail, hence this anchor is difiicult to apply. Once applied, however, the anchor has superior gripping characteristics because of the threepoint contact at the center crest of the two ends.

My previous Patent No. 2,503,229 of April 4, 1950 discloses a similar anchor but one in which only twopoint contact is achieved. The anchor disclosed in this patent is more easily applied by reason of a substantial clearance between the top of the center crest and the ine defined by the lower edges of the rail-receiving notches. In fact, the center crest is not in engagement with the bottom of the rail even in the applied stressed condition, as will be apparent from the drawings of the patent. Consequently, only a two-point contact with the rail is achieved, although gripping action is improved in a different manner, which will be apparent from the disclosure of that patent.

In accordance with the present invention, the rail anchor is formed from substantially square bar stock of suitably strong resilient material, such as steel, but in the initial or unstressed or free condition of the anchor, the top of the center crest is at or just below the line defined by the lower edges of the rail-receiving notches or by the lower surfaces of the rail, prior to stretching of the anchor. The distance between the top of the center crest and this line is termed the clearance of the anchor in its free condition and this clearance is related to the outward deflection of the anchor ends. It

will be understood that in the initial unstressed or free condition, the ends of the anchor are normally disposed inwardly a distance somewhat less than the width of the rail base, this difference being termed the displacement of the anchor ends in the applied or stressed condition.

I have discovered that when the anchor ends are displaced outwardly after application of the anchor to a rail, the center crest moves upwardly a predetermined distance, herein called the deflection. Accordingly, the invention contemplates that the anchor will be initially formed so that in its free condition, the clearance will be less than the upward movement or defiection resulting upon outward displacement of the anchor ends. Manufacturing tolerances and difierences in size of rails permit some variation, but the following table indicates the values which would be desirable.

Displaee- Upward Clearance ment of Movement Oi Center Rail Base Anchor Or Deflee- Crest In Width, Ends In tion Of Cen- Free Coninches Applied ter Crest, dition, Condition, inches inches inches 6 Me-V4 030-. 060 031-. 060 5% %s% 030-. 046 031-. 046 5% /l6 0307 046 031-. 046

Otherwise, the dimensions of a typical anchor are given as below, with reference to Fig. 2.

In summary, it will be apparent that there is an initial clearance between the top of the center crest and the line defined by the lower edges of the rail-receiving notches in the ends of the anchor. This clearance is very small, hence the center crest will move upwardly into contact with the bottom of the rail when the anchor is applied, but the initial clearance functions to facilitate application of the anchor to the rail. Also, it will be noted that in the unstressed or free condition, the backs of the rail-receiving notches converge in an upward direction a slight distance so that they become parallel with one another when the anchor is applied, thereby assuring firm contact with the rail.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that those skilled in the art will understand the structure, function and mode of operation of the invention herein disclosed, and appreciate the advantages thereof. Although one embodiment has been disclosed in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but the drawings and description thereof are to be understood as being merely illustrative. It is realized that many modifications and variations will present themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope thereof as set forth in the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A rail anchor for a rail having a base portion of predetermined width and a flat lower surface, said anchor being formed from resilient steel bar stock in the shape of a W so as to have an upwardly projecting center crest and upwardly projecting ends, the ends of the anchor being formed with rail-receiving notches, the unstressed anchor being dimensioned so that the distance between the outermost portions of the notches is less than the width of the rail base, whereby the ends of the anchor become sprung outwardly after the anchor is applied to the rail, and the center crest of the anchor being disposed so as to engage the base of the rail after application of the anchor While in its stressed condition, the position of the center crest being such that itwould not engage the base of the rail but for the aforesaid spreading of the ends of said anchor, whereby the center crest of the anchor offers the minimum resistance to application of the anchor to the rail while being 'in engagement with the base of the rail after application of the anchor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,862,780 Woodings June 14, 1932 2,139,847 Palmer Dec. 13, 1938 2,503,229 Wells Apr. 4, 1950 

